Advocates across the country are deeply disappointed at Betsy DeVos and the current administration for its failure to prioritize the safety of students. Despite the DeVos debacle, withdrawing Obama-era campus sexual assault guidance, advocates will continue to fight for student safety. Please join an expert group of anti-rape activists -- representing a diverse range of organizations -- to learn tips on how YOU can help. Q&A afterward.

Moderator

Founder and President Jerin Arifa will discuss how shespearheaded the campus sexual assault policy for the largest urban public university in the nation -- while she was undocumented. Just as Jerin didn't allow significant challenges to thwart her anti-rape activism, we will share tips on how to fight campus rape in this administration.

National Women's Law Center (NWLC): Equal Justice Works Fellow Elizabeth Tang will discuss NWLC's work against sexual assault and other forms of gender-based violence and discrimination.

Know Your IX: Campus Organizer Lupita Gonzalez, a student at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, will discuss the Campus Organizing Toolkit and organizing against sexual violence at a religious school.

Its On Us: Student Advisory Committee member Emma Heisler-Murray, a student at Sarah Lawrence College, will discuss the intersection of disability rights and Title IX.

Bios:

Jerin is an award-winning community organizer and communications specialist, who spearheaded the campus sexual assault policy for the largest urban public university in the nation -- while she was undocumented! Jerin leverages her multicultural background to deliver successful communications strategies for a variety of organizations, ranging from commercial real estate to nonprofits. As the Founder and President of the National Organization for Women’s (NOW) inaugural virtual chapter, Young Feminists and Allies, Jerin trains activists across the U.S. to create change. A first-generation Bangladeshi and Muslim-American feminist, Jerin’s work has appeared in diverse outlets from The Huffington Postto Cosmopolitan, and she presents regularly to local, national and international audiences.

Actress, filmmaker, activist and President of Heroica Films, Kamala Lopez, has launched the movement and film Equal Means Equal, to educate Americans about the importance of equal rights under federal law for women. Born in New York City to an Indian mother and a Venezuelan father, Lopez has worked as an actor in over thirty feature films, and hosted the PBS series Wired Science. Lopez, a Yale University graduate in Philosophy and Theatre Studies, formed production company Heroica Films in 1995 with the mission to write, direct and produce media for women, about women and utilizing women both in front and behind the camera. Lopez’s work on behalf of women and girls has been recognized by Los Angeles County’s Board of Supervisors and the Women’s Commission who named her 2015 Woman of the Year (Arts/Media). In 2012 Women’s eNews selected her as one of the 21 Leaders for the 21st Century and the National Women’s Political Caucus named her the 2011 Woman of Courage. In 2016, the State of California awarded her the Latino Spirit Award for Achievement in Advocacy and Entertainment and the national civil rights group Equal Rights Advocates named her Champion of Justice.

Feminist by nature, a riot by habit. Natalie White is a provocative and progressive feminist and artist, best known for her self-portrait work with Giant Polaroid photography, and her contribution as a "Muse" to the work of many of today's art and fashion luminaries. Her creative drive and unapologetic spirit have led her to collaborative ventures with artists such as Peter Beard, George Condo, Olivier Zahm, Michael Dweck, Will Cotton, Spencer Tunick, and Sean Lennon. Growing up in a small town in West Virginia, Natalie first gained attention internationally as a young model, featured on the covers of numerous European Magazines. As a leader in female empowerment and self-affirmation through art, Natalie also works in activations for women's rights. She has performed at the "Art Basel Miami Women in Art Benefit" in collaboration with the Brooklyn Museum's Elizabeth Sackler Center, as well as the "Natalie White for Equal Rights" show at the Hole in 2015 and a 2016 follow-up at the WhiteBox Foundation for the Arts. In July 2016, she led a 16 day, 250-mile march from NYC to DC promoting the fight for inclusion of The Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution.

Impact Litigator; Adjunct Professor of sexual violence law at New England Law|Boston; and Director of the Victim Advocacy & Research Group

Wendy is adjunct professor of sexual violence law at New England Law|Boston where she has taught for fifteen years. An impact litigator whose work in state and federal courts around the country has changed the law to improve protections for women's and children's constitutional rights, she developed and directs several projects in conjunction with the school's Center for Law and Social Responsibility. The Judicial Language Projectbegan in 2005 and involves law students using socio-linguistic research to critique harmful language used in law and society to describe violence against women and children. The Sexual Violence Legal News Project distributes appellate decisions of note to increase understanding among lay audiences by explaining the likely impact and real world consequences of a court's ruling. The JD/PhD project is a multidisciplinary program where a JD student is teamed up with a PhD student to work across disciplines and produce a written critique that expresses the scientific and legal value of new research related to interpersonal violence. Wendy was a Visiting Scholar at Harvard Law School from 2002-2003 where her work focused on the status of women in their capacity as victims in the criminal justice system. Wendy previously taught “Reproductive Rights and Technologies” at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and in 2002 served as the Mary Joe Frug Visiting Assistant Professor of Law at New England Law|Boston where she has also taught courses in reproductive technologies and constitutional criminal procedure. She is the founder and director of the Victim Advocacy & Research Group, a volunteer legal advocacy organization that has provided free legal services to victims and other third-parties in the criminal justice system since 1992. Wendy is a former child abuse and sex crimes prosecutor who sits on many boards and has served on the Massachusetts Governor’s Crime Commission and Commission against Sexual and Domestic Violence. She has consulted with Congress, worked with the White House Women’s Office and taught on the faculty of the Poynter Institute in connection with programs related to media and reporting on sexual violence. She is also a consultant with expertise in constitutional law, civil rights, criminal justice policy and legal strategy. Dubbed the “Best Talker on TV” with her “finger on the pulse of women’s rights” by Emmy Award winning journalist and former executive producer of ABC World News Tonight, Emily Rooney, Wendy has worked for CNN, Fox News, MSNBC and CBS News as a legal analyst, and appears regularly on network and cable television. She has written for The Daily Beast and the Boston Herald, and is a regular columnist for The Patriot Ledger. She also serves as a contributing editor to Womens’ eNews and is the author of several chapters in consortium books. Her first solo book, And Justice For Some, was published by Penguin/Sentinel in September 2007 and was updated and re-released in paperback in 2014. Author of the first law review article in the nation to explain the relationship between Title IX and campus sexual assault (based on a landmark case she won against Harvard in 2002), Wendy’s work on violence against women in education forged new pathways to increased awareness and advocacy for nearly twenty years.

Elizabeth Tang is an Equal Justice Works Fellow at the National Women’s Law Center, where she focuses on combating sexual harassment and violence in K-12 schools. She has previously advocated for gender equity and the rights of sexual assault survivors at the American Civil Liberties Union, the United States Senate, Rise, Apne Aap Women’s Collective in India, and Harvard University. Elizabeth has written and spoken extensively on Title IX and sexual assault for high school, college, and law school audiences, as well as at the inaugural Women’s Convention in October 2017. She received her JD/MBA from the University of Pennsylvania and her BA in Economics from Harvard College.

Lupita Gonzalez

Lupita Gonzalez is an undergraduate student at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota studying English. During her sophomore year, she led the first charge by students in recent memory to review university practices around sexual misconduct reporting and Title IX procedures. In her free time, she loves to read, write, watch documentaries, and spend time with her nieces and nephew. You can find her on twitter at @ligonz14.

Emma Heisler-Murray

Emma is a senior at Sarah Lawrence College studying neuropsychology. She brought It's On Us to her college in the Fall of 2016 and has organized almost forty events on her campus related to sexual violence education since. She is on the Student Advisory Committee for the National It's On Us Campaign and a law intern at Legal Momentum doing work related to sexual assault and sex trafficking. Emma aspires to attain a PhD in Social and Forensic Psychology in order to conduct research on sexual assault and memory in an effort to use science as a way to change policy.